Asynchronous Multiplay Futures for Casual Multiplayer Experience Ian Bogost, Ph.D

Asynchronous Multiplay Futures for Casual Multiplayer Experience Ian Bogost, Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology ABSTRACT same time, Internet deathmatch games like Big budget, high commitment 3D Unreal Tournament (GT Interactive 1999), and MMORPG’s have generated significant free-for-all strategy games like WarCraft III revenues and theoretical bounty. But these (Blizzard 2002) also capitalized on 3D graphics games still alienate most casual players. This and high-speed networking to deliver article offers a promising future for graphically rich, immediately gratifying multiplayer experience, especially casual multiplayer experiences. experience, in the form of asynchronous multiplayer games, or games in which small or All of these games allow synchronous, or large numbers of players play a game in simultaneous play, meaning that many players sequence rather than simultaneously. — sometimes tens, sometimes tens of thousands — play the game at the same time. Author Keywords For some games, synchronous play is simply Asynchronous, MMOG, MMORPG, Casual essential; imagine playing an Internet Games, Online Games deathmatch all alone. And the widespread penetration of MMOG’s, both as a gaming activity and as a social meme, has reinforced MMOG’S AND THEIR DISCONTENTS the idea that synchronous play is the With the rising popularity of Massively apotheosis of multiplayer gaming. Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG’s) like EverQuest (Verant 1999) With so much attention focused on and Star Wars Galaxies (Sony Online synchronous multiplayer gameplay, non- Entertainment 2003), it’s no wonder these are simultaneous, or asynchronous, multiplayer the kinds of games we think of most when gameplay is in decline. And while synchronous confronted with the idea of multiplayer games. multiplay does contribute to a whole universe Even though Multi-User Dungeons of rich social dynamics, asynchronous (MUD’s) predate games like EverQuest by two multiplay offers a form of casual multiplayer decades (Bartle & Trubshaw 1979), it was the gameplay that could prove equally, if not more sublime allure of graphical MMOG’s that won influential than synchronous play, especially in the genre broad public interest. Graphical the future subgenre of casual MMOG’s. MMOG’s are a relatively new kind of multiplayer game, made possible by a convergence of game technology advances and WHAT IS ASYNCHRONOUS MULTIPLAY? Before discussing specific examples, I want to adoption, including reduced server hardware take some time to explain the characteristics I costs, increased broadband penetration, and think typify the asynchronous multiplay. These market tolerance for subscription-based characteristics are not meant to define such entertainment. Ultima Online (Origin Systems games as exclusive of and opposed to 1997) launched the genre in earnest in 1997, synchronous multiplayer games, or of any with notable followers Lineage (NCSoft 1998) other genre of game for that matter. Rather, I in 1998, and EverQuest in 1999. Around the 1 hope these characteristics will help identify the Characteristic 3 traits of asynchronous play styles, which in Breaks between players are the organizing principle of turn may show up in greater and lesser forms asynchronous play in games of all genres. Characteristic 1 Just as simultaneous, collaborative play is the Asynchronous play supports multiple players playing in hallmark of synchronous multiplayer games sequence, not in tandem like MMORPG’s, sequential, disrupted play is the distinguishing trait of asynchronous multiplayer games. As such, asynchronous The number of players could range from two gameplay relies on meaningful use of these to tens of thousands depending on the game’s disruptions as wellsprings for game design, just like synchronous play. However, in experiences. This means that good asynchronous play, those players never play asynchronous multiplayer games design these the game at the same time. Instead, players fissures as centerpieces, rather than detours. play in sequence, one after the other. In some asynchronous games, one player immediately Because it is designed principally follows another, in others a duration of time around breaks in gameplay, asynchronous play elapses between players. Play might take place is inherently more casual than synchronous on the same computer, console, or device, or it play — it demands fewer time synchronies might take place on separate devices. between players and allows more flexibility on the part of individual players. Characteristic 2 Likewise, because player obligations Asynchronous play requires some kind of persistent outside the game often engender breaks in state which all players affect, and which in turn affects gameplay, asynchronous play typically orients all players itself as much to the world outside the game as inside the game. In Animal Crossing (Nintendo 2002), which I’ll return to in more detail later, In MMOG’s, this is typically called Persistence of the game time is synchronized to real time. If World (POW). POW allows the game world to the player is playing in the winter at night, the continue even when the player is not playing game world will appear dark and snowy. the game. In an MMORPG like EverQuest, players exchange objects, wealth, and engage Characteristic 4 in combat, creating semi-permanent in-game effects that propagate in other players’ Asynchronous play need not be the defining experiences. In games like WarCraft and Unreal, characteristic of a game player damage to buildings might persist even after that player leaves the arena. There are plenty of games that In MMOG’s, POW is maintained on a incorporate synchronous multiplay as an central server or database, so that any player optional extension of the primary game, such who logs into the game will connect to the as GoldenEye 007 (Rare 1997), which tacked a same persistent world. Complete POW is rarer satisfying 2 – 4 player deathmatch mode onto in asynchronous play. Asynchronous a primary, single-player adventure mode. And multiplayer games may rely on online while there are precedents for synchronous connectivity and network storage to persist mutiplay as a supplementary, rather than data about the game, they may rely on local primary design, those precedents are few. One storage methods (such as disc drives and example is the Twingle Tuner feature in The memory cards) or they may rely on distributed Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (Nintendo 2003). storage methods (such as email and SMS). The primary game mode is a single-player quest played on the Nintendo GameCube 2 console. If the player rescues a character message on a non-blocking socket, program named Twingle, he can make use of this new execution continues, but the calling program friend to give tips and show hidden objects. has to poll the socket to see if any action is But to use Twingle, the player must connect a required. When a program sends a message on GameBoy Advance (GBA) to the secondary an asynchronous socket, program execution controller port. The GBA shows an overhead continues, and polling takes place map of the area the player currently occupies. automatically. Asynchronous sockets A second player, playing in synchrony with the automatically fire events in the calling program primary player, can maneuver Twingle on the when socket actions take place, allowing the GBA, then relate key information to the program author to implement event handlers primary player by voice. for each. In many games that feature In most cases, asynchronous sockets asynchronous multiplay, mutiplay itself is are the most efficient choice for simultaneous optional, an addendum to an entirely adequate play multiplayer games. In a 3D MMOG, a and complete single-player experience. In whole host of events take place at once, from other cases, such as The Howard Dean for Iowa text messages between players to coordinates Game (Persuasive Games 2003) I will discuss for objects to projectile trajectories. In these later, players may not even know that they are cases, performance requirements prescribe engaging multiplayer aspects of the game. asynchronous sockets (for an overview of Asynchronous multiplay can stand as one socket programming for games, see Sikora among many defining features for a game. 2001). That said, the asynchronous qualities Even though asynchronous network of a multiplayer game can provide rich fodder I/O does have a role in facilitating certain for analysis. While the asynchronous types of multiplayer gameplay, asynchronous multiplayer elements of game may facilitate play does not require asynchronous network only a peripheral part of the experience, they I/O. Because asynchronous I/O is mostly may also point to the more interesting cultural, used to manage messages between social, or functional aspects of the game. simultaneous players, such complexity is usually absent from asynchronous play, Corrolary accommodating much simpler networking Asynchronous play isn’t related to asynchronous technologies. network I/O In short, there is no necessary correlation between asynchronous play and This is a rather academic point, but one worth asynchronous data communication. mentioning. Every synchronous play game has to manage complex network operations to pass requests between one or many host PRECEDENTS servers and a large number of client Asynchronous multiplay is far from new computers. These transmissions are usually design technique. One could even argue that managed via direct socket connections every board game, from Senat to

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